


Assumptions

by just_another_tinker



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Disability, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Team Feels, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-08
Updated: 2016-07-08
Packaged: 2018-04-03 18:08:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4110181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_another_tinker/pseuds/just_another_tinker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone makes assumptions. We can’t help it.<br/>We’re only human.<br/>We still make them. And they still hurt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Everyone makes assumptions. We can’t help it.

We’re only human.

We still make them. And they still hurt.  

 

* * *

 

Bruce sat in the quinjet, letting his teammates file in. Another successful mission, luckily accomplished without needing the Hulk’s help.

He had been tasked with helping citizens get back to their homes safely after the rest of HYDRA had been cleared out. That’s when it happened.

He ushered a child into a house, when the mother snatched the kid out of his hands.

Bruce would never forget the look of pure terror on the mothers face as she pulled her child away. It was just the reminder Bruce needed to prove he was still a monster. The thing families cower from.

“Bruce, hey, snap out of it!” Tony said, waving his hands in front of Bruce’s face.

Bruce grumbled slightly before strapping in.

“What’s the matter? You upset you missed all the fun?” Clint asked with a grin.

“Don’t worry, soldier, you didn’t miss much. It wasn’t much of a fight,” chucked Steve.

Bruce tuned them out.

He was thankful for each day he didn’t have to Hulk out. Today showed to him yet again, that he shouldn’t pretend that he’s a hero. That he could actually help people.

His team always thought it was the physical drain that made Bruce so glum after a mission. But it was the emotional toil that burned deep inside him.

The fact that he had hurt people, probably killed people. People who had families, who had lives. All ruined because of his temper. He was a beast, a mindless killing machine. Tearing lives apart ever since that fateful lab error. Bruce carried those ghosts along with him. They would always be there, weighing him down until he died.

They wouldn’t understand. No one would.

_Let them make their assumptions._

 

* * *

 

Another dead end.

Natasha sighed. They were no closer to getting to Loki’s scepter. The boys’ usual ‘let me prove how manly I am by berating you to a pulp’ interrogations were proving fruitless.

It’s a good thing that she can operate a different way.

There was a possible lead. A man that may know information about another HYDRA base. Natasha could get through to him.

“Hey hot stuff.” She found their man at a small café, just a few blocks from the tower. Apparently he needed a breather after the interrogation he just got out of. With Thor and Steve. Yikes.

“Umm, hi?” The man was already flustered. This was too easy.

She sat down on the other side of the table, leaning forward so head got a front row at her cleavage. “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were someone I knew. My mistake.” She smiled sweetly.

“Oh, well, I guess I just have that kind of face. I don’t mind the company though.”

“Good,” she winked.

She chatted him up for a while, slowly inching closer to him. He deflected about work, but she felt him cracking under her. She would get that information.

“Nat, what the hell?” She found herself faced with an angry Clint and Tony.

The man she was chatting up obviously recognized them. “Wait, you work for the Avengers? I’m out of here.” The man took off sprinting down the road.

Natasha cursed. She had been so close. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Nat, we just interviewed that man about HYDRA bases. We were gonna let him stew before we brought him back in. We had him on the ropes, but that isn’t an option anymore, thanks to you!”

“Guys, come on- ”

“No, Nat. You know, you don’t have to go around and flirt with anything that breathes. Keep it in your pants.”

“Clint, come on; let’s try and find him.” Tony and Clint raced off into the streets, but Natasha knew it was pointless.

Natasha was left alone at the café table. It wasn’t their fault; they didn’t know about her interrogation techniques. They probably wouldn’t approve anyway.

It’s how she was taught; what the Red Room forced into her brain. She didn’t know any better. This was how she survived. Natasha felt a tear slip down her cheek.

_Let them make their assumptions._

 

* * *

 

“Dammit, it’s not here,” Steve’s voice echoed over the comms.

Thor had lost count of how many HYDRA bases they had raided, their battle still unfinished without the location of Loki’s scepter.

Each day, Thor found himself more frantic to finding the last piece of his brother.

Of course, the others were not that concerned. He still remembers the pure relief on their faces when he told them that Loki had perished after the events in London.

But it never ended there.

Stark always had to insert his opinion when Loki was brought up. Always had a quip and jest ready to go. It was constantly matched with the archer’s sarcastic wit. Even the Captain lets out a few chuckles here and there.

Thor would never participate in their taunts. Despite everything, Loki was still his brother. That is a bond that he could never break.

No one ever took notice. No one ever cared to.

No, he was just Thor.

The strange alien claiming to be a god. The one who laughed the hardest at times, but remained the most stoic at others.

They always pegged it off on Thor’s misunderstanding of the mortal world. That sometimes he couldn’t keep up with all the lingo. That he was ok with the team demoralizing his brother. That he didn’t understand the jokes being tossed around.

But Thor did understand.

His brother was dead, gone before his very eyes. The scepter was the last thing of Loki’s that he could hold on to. The last way he could remember his brother. They would never understand that.

_Let them make their assumptions._

 

* * *

 

Steve walked through the cemetery slowly, taking in the silence.

Tony had dropped him off; he didn’t question Steve when he asked for time alone.

No one ever does.

He finds his usual bench, and sits down in front of a worn grave.

_Amand Jernberg_

No, this man was not a Commando, not a US soldier. Steve had never met this man. And yet he had ruined his life.

Everyone thought of Captain America and thought of purity; the figure head that always knew right from wrong. A national icon. A hero. How wrong they all were.

Steve was just another soldier from WWII. He sat in the bloodiest trenches, fought through the dirtiest battles. He killed Nazis.

Steve doesn’t remember when the battle was, or where he was. He doesn’t even remember what the Commandos were doing there. He just remembers the thud of his shield off of his body.

Amand’s brother, Kurt. He recalled staring back into those lifeless eyes, unable to tear himself away. He also remembered looking down at the uniform. He wasn’t a Nazi. He had just killed a regular German soldier. He could have been innocent for all Steve knew.

That’s when it caught up with him. How by saving the world, he was still killing off some of it. Taking lives. Being a bully. Erskine told him to be a good man, but here Steve was, no better than any of the Nazis.

He had searched Kurt’s body, body racked with grief. Maybe he could get in contact with the family. Steve found a family photo. Kurt, with his brother Amand, mother and sister.

He could fix this.

Of course, the whole crashing a plane in the arctic put him a little behind schedule. But Steve’s guilt followed him everywhere. He needed to own up to at least one crime. Of course, a quick search with JARVIS nearly crushed Steve.

Amand had found out about his brother’s death. Of course, he couldn’t tell his sister and mother, because they were dead as well. From the bombing in Dresden. How Amand survived was a miracle. The war cost him everything: his family, his home, his life.

He fled to America after the war, dying of a heart attack ten years ago.

So Steve visited his grave every Sunday.

The team thought he was visiting an old war buddy, but they didn’t know. Steve couldn’t find it in himself to tell them. That their friend, their leader, was a monster. A man who had destroyed German lives and didn’t think twice about it.

_Let them make their assumptions._

 

* * *

 

“Where the hell were you?!”

Clint flinched at Steve’s tone. But of course, it was definitely warranted.

Clint had made a mistake; one that almost cost Natasha her life.

They were in the heat of battle with there latest HYDRA thugs putting up quite a fight.

Clint had been everywhere. He hopped for vantage point to vantage point, trying to keep his team safe. Or, as Tony like to put it, checking to make sure all of his baby chicks were accounted for.

He was moving so quickly, so caught up in the battle, trying to beat a record set by Thor, that he didn’t hear the Captain’s orders.

To go help Natasha.

It happened more often than not. Clint’s ears just aren’t always reliable. He had been blessed with some of the best eyes the world had ever seen. Of course, his other senses had to pay the price for that. His hearing was mediocre at best, and the beatings he got in the circus didn’t do him any favors.

Usually when the team went out on missions, Clint could scrape by with jamming the comm deep into his ear, turning the volume all the way up. But anything could happen in a fight. Clint was always on the move, it doesn’t take much for the comm to shift farther out his ear. Causing him to miss certain things.

“Steve, I- ”

“No, I don’t want to hear excuses. You were too caught up in downing more HYDRA agents than Thor, you couldn’t even be bothered to be there for your own teammate. Natasha could have died, Clint!”

Clint shuddered.

Of course he knew that. He would beat himself up forever because of that. It was his job to protect his team.

But that’s also why he never told them about his hearing problem. He was on a team with gods; literally, there is a god on their squad. Clint has no right to be running around with all of these A list heroes. He was a nobody.

If anyone found out, they wouldn’t hesitate to just shove him out the door. Clint wouldn’t let that happen. He needed to be there for his family.

If that meant that he got his ass handed to him every once in a while, and be chastised for being an immature child? Fine.

_Let them make their assumptions._

 

* * *

 

Tony tried to control his breathing as he filled up another cup. His hands were shaking so much that the old coffee spilled all over the table.

He had another nightmare, another panic attack. Time to deal with it the only way he knew how.

Sighing, he started to walk towards the lab. It was just a little over 3 a.m. No one else should have been up. Key word: should.

“Stark.”

Tony jumped, spilling coffee on his shirt. “Jesus, Romanoff, warn a guy.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“I’m sorry?” Tony replied, looking back up.

“Pulling away. You’re doing it again. You starting to look more and more like the Tony Stark I met when first assigned to you.”

“What are you talking about?”

Natasha scoffed. “Are you kidding me? I know you’re sleeping with Steve. But look, here you are, at 3 a.m., out here. Is he just another one of your conquests? You can’t even spend the whole night with him, can you?”

Tony flinched away from her tone.

“And drinking the hard stuff again, I see.” Natasha pointed down to his cup. It was a glass tumbler. It wasn’t Tony’s fault he couldn’t find a coffee mug.

“Steve isn’t just a floozy, and he isn’t Pepper. This isn’t just a check off your bucket list. I thought you were better than this.” With that, Natasha stalked off back to her room, leaving Tony alone again.

He pressed his back against the far wall, letting his body slide to the floor.

Or course Steve wasn’t just anyone. Steve was everything to Tony.

He’s part of the reason Tony is out here.

Tony is constantly suffering from night terrors and panic attacks. The last one he had in bed had actually left Steve with a broken nose. Of course, super soldier he was, it healed by morning, but the damage it had done to Tony had lasted.

He couldn’t hurt Steve; it would break him.

So, that meant long and lonely nights in the lab, suffering in his terrors alone. But he would do it. For Steve. It didn’t matter what Natasha thought. What the rest of the team thought.

_Let them make their assumptions._


	2. Chapter 2

Everyone makes assumptions. We can’t help it.

We’re only human.

We still make them. And they still hurt.   _But we care more._

 

* * *

 

Bruce sat on a bench after another battle.

The team needed him on this one, draining Bruce completely. All he wanted to do was sleep. Maybe some of the pain would go away. He knew it wouldn’t.

“Yes, he’s right over here. Come.”

Bruce opened his eyes to find a smiling Thor looking down at him. And gripping his hand was a little girl, thumb stuck in her mouth.

Bruce immediately backed away. “Thor, I don’t really think- ”

“Relax, my friend. Sarah would like a word with you.”

Thor knelt down next to the little girl. “Go on; tell him what you told me.”

She nodded, letting go of Thor’s hand long enough to vault herself onto Bruce for a tight hug.

Bruce was frozen in place, eyes growing impossibly wide staring at the girl clinging to him.

“Thank you for helping me and my mommy.” She pecked Bruce’s cheek sweetly before plopping back down to the ground.

Thor smiled at her. “Go, child. Your mother is waiting for you over there.”

Bruce watched in awe as the girl skipped back over to her mother, who gave Bruce a small wave.

“I don’t understand.”

Thor came and sat next to Bruce on the bench.

“The two were locked in their car; they we’re going to fall off the bridge. You saved them. The Hulk saved them.”

Bruce stared into his hands, trying to piece his memory back together. He felt Thor’s comforting hand reset on his shoulder.

“Many times on Asgard, my warriors and I were sent to fight on different realms. And I did, of course, for the glory of my home. But after each one I couldn’t help but be faced with grief. And even now, after my brother and the Chitauri, I am faced with the same guilt. I call myself a god, but I am no different than a simple beast, reigning down lightening and terror onto different worlds. I often find myself asking about all the lives that have been lost at my hand, sometimes so much that my grief consumes me.”

Thor stood back up, pulling Bruce along with him. “In times like that, I must remember the good that I have done, the good I have inside me.” Thor pointed at Bruce’s chest. “Sometimes I ask why I do what I do every day, buy I force myself to remember the people that I have saved. The people like Sarah. And I will continue to do my duty for people like them. Because I am a hero. As are you.”

Bruce couldn’t help but smile up at the wise god. _“Thank you.”_

 

* * *

 

Natasha sat in the middle of the dance floor stretching. She always ended up here when she felt herself slipping. Tony had been surprised when she asked him to build her one, but Natasha was grateful every day for it. She could lose herself in here; the music taking her away from her past, away from her life.

She didn’t need the approval of the rest of her team; she didn’t even know why she was bothered when she didn’t have it.

Someone cleared their throat behind her.

She spun quickly, already in a defensive position. She recovered instantly when she was met with Bruce.

The man gave a small smile, holding up a cup of tea. “I come in peace.”

Natasha snorted, reaching for the cup. It was delicious, of course. Bruce had a remedy for almost everything.

“You’re reading into this wrong.”

“I’m sorry?”

“It took me a while to get a handle on you. But you’re a spy. You’re always so calculating, so distant. But you aren’t untouchable. I know you.”

“If I let little comments affect me, I wouldn’t have made it very far.”

“Natasha.”

Bruce pointed at a tear that had slipped down her cheek. Natasha tolled her eyes. “Your point?”

“My point, Natasha, is that you are not always right. You believe that everyone in this tower thinks of you the same way everyone else does. ”

When Natasha didn’t reply, Bruce continued. “You’re wrong. It’s not your fault; you’ve never had anything like this before. None of us have.”

“And what is that?”

“A family.”

Natasha stilled. “I’m not following.”

Bruce smiled. “I don’t think you realize who your roommates are. Let’s count, shall we? One, you’ve got a crazed mechanic who never learned to share. Then there’s your other half, a man who I heard went through hell to get you out of Budapest. And then a super soldier that carried you ten miles out of a bomb blast in New Jersey. Let’s not forget that there’s an actual god upstairs. And then there’s me, who could always improve on my anger management.”

“Ok, I have weird taste in friends. So?”

“When we see you with guys, it’s not you we look at. It’s them. Sure, you know how to kick ass, but were only men. We get a little possessive when people we don’t like come close to our family. That includes you.”

Bruce reached out and squeezed Natasha’s hand. “Don’t ever feel like you don’t belong, or that we are only here to judge you. You’re the glue that keeps us together. Or, I should say, the glue that keeps our heads out of our asses. We need you.”

Natasha smiled softly, squeezing Bruce’s hand back. _“Thank you.”_

 

* * *

 

Thor stood at the top of the tower, letting the wind blow softy through his hair. He closed his eyes and sighed, thinking of better times.

“Here.”

Thor whipped around to find Clint Barton staring at him, a hand stretched out with a small glass of liquor.

Thor reached out and grabbed it slowly, confusion written on his face. “I don’t understand. We did not find Loki’s scepter today; there is no cause for celebration.”

Clint huffed, swirling the cup of alcohol in his own hand. “I didn’t say it was for celebration.”

Clint walked up next to Thor and stared out into the night. “Growing up in the circus was hard. I never had too many things, but the one thing I always had was my brother. But stuff happened; he became someone I didn’t want him to be. But that doesn’t mean I don’t still miss him.”

Clint sighed and looked back up to Thor. “I can never forgive your brother for what he did to me, the team, the world. But the least I can do is thank him for being part of the reason you’re still here today.”

Clint raised his glass, gesturing for Thor to clink the glasses together. “To Loki.”

Both men drank in silence, enjoying each other’s company. Who would have known Clint Barton, the man whose life had been ripped apart by Loki’s schemes would still toast to him in the end. Thor smiled softly at Clint. _“Thank you.”_

 

* * *

 

It was Sunday, and Steve found himself on the same bench in front of the same grave. Fresh tears spilled down his cheeks as his mind toiled with a familiar darkness.

“Steve?”

Natasha’s voice startled him right out of the bench. He wiped his eyes quickly, trying to compose himself. When he turned around, he found himself faced with not only Natasha, but with another unfamiliar woman.

“Umm, hello,” Steve managed to force out, looking away, embarrassed.

Natasha, professional as always, didn’t comment on Steve’s appearance. “Steve, this is my friend Olivia. I thought you’d like to meet her.”

Steve let out a small sigh. Natasha must still be pushing for him to get a date. Still, he was Captain America. He put on a professional smile, and shook her hand. “A pleasure, ma’am.”

“Likewise, Captain.” She nodded to the grave. “I see you are here to see my grandfather as well.”

Steve froze. “Yo-your grandfather?”

Olivia nodded with a small smile. She tugged Steve to sit back down on the bench. The two sat for a moment, looking down at the grave. “My grandfather had a hard life,” Olivia started.

Steve couldn’t help the shudder that ran through his body. Olivia put a hand on his shoulder. “Let me finish.”

Steve looked at her and nodded slowly. “As I was saying, my grandfather lived a hard life. The war had cost him his family, his life, his belief in his country. So he came here. He told me when I was little how he found a job sweeping up hair in a barber shop. Little did he know that one day he would own it. That’s how he met my grandmother. She used to walk by the shop every week.” Olivia smiled. “He said it was love at first sight. It wasn’t long before they got married and had my father. Then my father got married and had me.”

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a worn picture. “Here. Grandpa always said that he never saw the war as the end of his life; it was the beginning of a new one. Moving on to America was the best decision he ever made; he never regretted anything that happened.”

Olivia stood up. “Keep the photo. And remember. The saddest of stories have the best of endings.” She squeezed Steve’s shoulder before walking away.

Looking down at the photo, Steve could see an aged Amand Jernberg surrounded by family, laughing brilliantly into the camera.

When Steve felt Natasha sit down next to him, he didn’t hesitate to pull her into a fierce hug. “ _Thank you,”_ he whispered in between sobs.

 

* * *

 

Clint shifted in the uncomfortable hospital chair, staring at the door. The whole team was in there with Natasha. Clint refused to go in. He refused to go. After all, it was his fault she was in there.

He groaned, pushing his face into his hands. Clint jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He wasn’t all that surprised that he didn’t hear Tony sit down next to him.

“You didn’t say anything.”

Clint looked over at Tony. Of course Tony would figure it out. Clint tried to curl himself into a smaller ball. Getting chewed out by Steve was bad enough, but no one was as bad as Tony. Tony was a spit fire; the sharp businessman could reduce anyone to a quivering mess in seconds. Clint wasn’t going to make it out of here alive.

Clint felt Tony get out of his chair and kneel down in front of him. “Listen. I get it. I’m not exactly known for letting people in on my medical history,” Tony said, unconsciously tapping at his chest. “You don’t have to prove yourself to us. We aren’t going to look at you any different.”

Clint rolled his eyes, jumping up from the chair. “Oh that’s rich. I already know that I’m the weakest link on the team. If I had told you guys about this, you wouldn’t hesitate to send me packing. You don’t have to lie to me.”

“Clint.”

Clint didn’t realize when he started hyperventilating. It was all too much. If he was kicked off the Avengers, he would have nothing left. He needed this.

Tony grabbed his hands, placing something into them. When Clint looked down at them, he asked, “What are they?”

“Hearing aids, made by yours truly. It’s my first model, so don’t bash them too bad. If everything works correctly, and I know it will, you should have better hearing than Steve. They’re even linked directly to the comms, so you should have no problem being left out of the loop. Hope you don’t mind how small they are; I just figured you wouldn’t want everyone to know you have them.”

Clint stared at the aids in wonder before looking back up to Tony. Tony gave him a small smile, before gesturing for Clint to put them in.

Clint placed the aids in his ears, feeling his knees give out under him when he heard, well, _everything._ Thor was in the Natasha’s room regaling her with stories of Asgard. Clint could even hear Steve’s quiet chuckle and Bruce’s small sighs. Somewhere on the floor above them, an ecstatic man was calling the rest of his family telling them that he was finally a dad. But what really did it for Clint was that he could hear their heartbeats. All five of his teammates; their heart pumping blood strongly through their veins.

Clint cried into Tony’s neck. “ _Thank you.”_

 

* * *

 

Tony tried to breathe through yet another panic attack. His hands were shaking and tears were streaming down his face.

He hadn’t left his lab again; he knew that it was going to be a bad night. He didn’t want to be a danger to Steve or the team.

Everything was pounding through his head. Being able to access any information was both a blessing and a curse. Tony had found himself seeing things he didn’t want to.  If he wasn’t caught in nightmares of being left in space, his brain was littered with images of Steve getting beaten to a pulp by the Winter Soldier, or HYDRA pointing a gun at Steve’s temple in the streets of Washington.

More often, his endless nights were littered with Steve then with him, making Tony absolutely terrified. Steve, as strong as he made Tony feel, was his weakness. If anything were to ever happen to him, Tony would never forgive himself.

Tony saw a life without Steve, causing his breathing to pick back up again. He tried to reach for his lab chair, but he miscalculated, causing him to spiral to the floor. His breath was stuck in his throat, he couldn’t breathe, be couldn’t-

“Shhhh, sweetheart. It’s ok.” Strong arms wrapped around Tony, pulling him back up against a solid chest. “It’s alright, breathe with me.”

Steve took one of Tony’s hand and pushed it into his chest. “Come on, Tony. Breathe with me.” Tony felt the slow rise and fall of Steve’s chest, his own body trying to match it.

Tony didn’t know how long they stayed there. Tony curled up around Steve’s chest, listening to him breathing; Steve swaying Tony against him, humming some old tune.

“I’m sorry,” Tony whispered into Steve’s chest.

Steve tightened his grip on Tony. “Don’t you ever be sorry for this. We’re a team, you and I. Don’t shut me out; let me help you.”

Tony looked up at Steve, smiling softy when Steve pulled him into a kiss. “I’m not going anywhere. Not without you,” Steve said against his lips.

Steve pulled Tony close against him again, stroking through his hair. “ _Thank you.”_

 

* * *

 

The team sat around the dinner table. They always made an effort to try and have a meal together once a week. Something to pull away from their stresses and get them out of their own head for a while.

Sure, they said things sometimes that left the others spinning, but they were always there to pick each other up again.

They were only human, but they were a family.


End file.
